Biodiversity, biocapacity and better choices

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EcologicalFootprint: Futurescenarios(continued)EcosystemEcosystemservicesProvisioningservicesRegulatingservicesSupportingserviceswith the scenarios in food and energy were combined with the estimatesof the IPCC (IPCC, 2007b) and a land suitability model (Global Agro-Ecological Zones – GAEZ) to predict changes in the area and suitabilityof land for growing crops (Fischer et al., 2008).A dynamic complex of plant, animal and micro-organism communitiesand their non-living environment interacting as a functional unit.The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment distinguished supporting,provisioning, regulating and cultural services that contribute to humanwell-being (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005a; b). Theseservices are defined in the four panels below:Goods obtained directly from ecosystems (e.g., food, medicine, timber,fibre and bioenergy).Benefits obtained from the regulation of natural processes (e.g., waterfiltration, waste decomposition, climate regulation, crop pollination andregulation of some human diseases).Regulation of basic ecological functions and processes that are necessaryfor the provision of all other ecosystem services (e.g. nutrient cycling,photosynthesis and soil formation).HDIsimply not available and many opportunities remain inaccessible. Butthe realm of human development goes further: Essential areas of choice,highly valued by people, range from political, economic and socialopportunities for being creative and productive; to enjoying self-respect,empowerment and a sense of belonging to a community. The concept ofhuman development is a holistic one, putting people at the centre of allaspects of the development process. (Source: Human DevelopmentReport webpage).The HDI – Human Development Index – is a summary composite indexthat measures a country’s average achievements in three basic aspects ofhuman development: health, knowledge and a decent standard of living.The HDI contains three components:1. Health: Life expectancy at birth (number of years a newborn infantwould live if prevailing patterns of mortality at the time of birthwere to stay the same throughout the child’s life).2. Knowledge: A combination of the adult literacy rate andthe combined primary, secondary and tertiary grossenrolment ratio.3. Standard of living: GDP per capita (PPP US$).(Source: Human Development Report webpage).Cultural servicesGlobal hectare(gha)HumandevelopmentPsychological and emotional benefits gained from human relationswith ecosystems (e.g., enriching recreational, aesthetic and spiritualexperiences).A productivity weighted area used to report both the biocapacity of theEarth, and the demand on biocapacity (the Ecological Footprint). Theglobal hectare is normalized to the area-weighted average productivity ofbiologically productive land and water in a given year. Because differentland types have different productivity, a global hectare of, for example,cropland, would occupy a smaller physical area than the much lessbiologically productive pasture land, as more pasture would be needed toprovide the same biocapacity as one hectare of cropland. Because worldbioproductivity varies slightly from year to year, the value of a gha maychange slightly from year to year (Global Footprint Network, 2012).Human development is a process of “enlarging” people’s choices.Enlarging people’s choices is achieved by expanding human capabilitiesand functioning. At all levels of development the three essentialcapabilities for human development are for people to lead long andhealthy lives; to be knowledgeable; and to have a decent standard ofliving. If these basic capabilities are not achieved, many choices aresimply not available and many opportunities remain inaccessible. ButHuman development is a process of “enlarging” people’s choices.Enlarging people’s choices is achieved by expanding human capabilitiesand functioning. At all levels of development the three essentialcapabilities for human development are for people to lead long andhealthy lives; to be knowledgeable; and to have a decent standard ofliving. If these basic capabilities are not achieved, many choices areInequalityadjustedHumanDevelopmentIndex (IHDI)Living PlanetIndex (LPI)The IHDI is a measure of the level of human development of people ina society that accounts for inequality. Under perfect equality, the IHDIis equal to the HDI; but it falls below the HDI when inequality rises. Inthis sense, the IHDI is the actual level of human development while theHDI can be viewed as an index of the potential human developmentthat could be achieved if there is no inequality. The IHDI accounts forinequality in HDI dimensions by “discounting” each dimension’s averagevalue according to its level of inequality.The average loss in the HDI due to inequality is about 23 percent – that is, adjusted for inequality, the global HDI of 0.682 in 2011would fall to 0.525. Countries with less human development tend to havegreater inequality in more dimensions – and thus larger losses in humandevelopment.This new version of the HDI was developed for the 2011 HumanDevelopment Report (UNDP, 2011) and at the time of publication, theadjustment has been applied to 134 countries. For this definition andmore information, see the IHDI homepage.The LPI reflects changes in the health of the planet’s ecosystems bytracking trends in over 9,000 populations of vertebrate species. Muchas a stock market index tracks the value of a set of shares over time asthe sum of its daily change, the LPI first calculates the annual rate ofchange for each species’ population in the dataset (example populationsare shown in Figures 4-6). The index then calculates the average changeacross all populations for each year from 1970, when data collectionbegan, to 2008, the latest date for which data is available (Collen et al.,2009 and see Annex 1 for more details).WWF Living Planet Report 2012 page 148 Annex: Technical notes and data tables page 149
NationalAccounts ReviewCommitteeNational FootprintAccountsNatural capitalOvershootSustainabledevelopmentVirtual waterWater FootprintZNDDGlobal Footprint Network’s scientific advisors who develop and endorserecommendations for methodological changes to the EcologicalFootprint Accounts (Global Footprint Network, 2012).The central data set that calculates the footprints and biocapacities ofthe world, and roughly 150 nations from 1961 to the present (generallywith a three-year lag due to data availability). The ongoing development,maintenance and upgrades of the National Footprint Accounts arecoordinated by Global Footprint Network and its 70+ partners (GlobalFootprint Network, 2012).Natural capital can be defined as all of the raw materials and naturalcycles on Earth. Footprint analysis considers one key component:life-supporting natural capital, or ecological capital for short. Thiscapital is defined as the stock of living ecological assets that yield goodsand services on a continuous basis. Main functions include resourceproduction (such as fish, timber or cereals), waste assimilation (suchas CO2 absorption or sewage decomposition) and life support services(such as UV protection, biodiversity, water cleansing or climate stability).Global overshoot occurs when humanity’s demand on the natural worldexceeds the biosphere’s supply, or regenerative capacity. Such overshootleads to a depletion of Earth’s life-supporting natural capital and abuild-up of waste. At the global level, biocapacity deficit and overshootare the same, since there is no net-import of resources to the planet.Local overshoot occurs when a local ecosystem is exploited more rapidlythan it can renew itself (Global Footprint Network, 2012).Development that meets the needs of the present without compromisingthe ability of future generations to meet their own needs.The “virtual water content” of a product is the same as its “WaterFootprint”. The Water Footprint of a product (a commodity, goodor service) is the volume of freshwater used to produce the product,measured at the place where the product was actually produced. It refersto the sum of the water used in the various steps of the production chain.The Water Footprint of an individual, community or business is definedas the total volume of freshwater that is used to produce the goods andservices consumed by the individual or community, or produced by thebusiness. The Water Footprint of a nation is defined as the total amountof water that is used to produce the goods and services consumed by theinhabitants of the nation.WWF defines ZNDD as: no net forest loss through deforestation andno net decline in forest quality through degradation; and stresses that:(a) most natural forest should be retained – the annual rate of loss ofnatural or semi-natural forests should be reduced to near zero; and (b)any gross loss or degradation of pristine natural forests would need tobe offset by an equivalent area of socially and environmentally soundforest restoration.List of abbreviationsASC Aquaculture Stewardship CouncilBRIICS Brazil, Russia, India, Indonesia, China, South AfricaCBD Convention on Biological DiversityCLUM Country Land Use MatrixCONAGUA Mexican National Water Commission (Comisión Nacional del Agua)EF Ecological FootprintEFR Ecological Footprint ReportESA European Space AgencyESRI Environmental Systems Research InstituteFAO United Nations Food and Agricultural OrganizationFSC Forest Stewardship CouncilGAM General Additive ModelingGAEZ Global Agro Ecological ZonesGDP Gross Domestic ProductGha Global HectaresGHG Greenhouse GasGNI Gross National IncomeHDI Human Development IndexICCAT International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic TunasIEA International Energy AgencyIFC International Finance CorporationIHDI Inequality-adjusted Human Development IndexIIASA International Institute for Applied Systems AnalysisIPCC International Panel on Climate ChangeIUCN International Union for the Conservation of NatureMEA Millennium Ecosystem AssessmentMSC Marine Stewardship CouncilLPI Living Planet IndexLPR Living Planet ReportOECD Organization for Economic Cooperation and DevelopmentREDD Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest DegradationTEEB The Economics of Ecosystems and BiodiversityTOE Tons of Oil EquivalentUNDP United Nations Development ProgrammeUNFCCC United Nations Convention on Climate ChangeUNFPA United Nations Population FundWBCSD World Business Council for Sustainable DevelopmentWF Water FootprintWHO World Health OrganizationWMO World Meteorological OrganizationWWF World Wide Fund for NatureZNDD Zero Net Deforestation and Forest DegradationZSL Zoological Society LondonWWF Living Planet Report 2012 page 150 Annex: Technical notes and data tables page 151
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Living Planet Report 2012BIOCAPACIT
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the LIVING PLANET INDEXThe Living P
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Exploring the Living Planet IndexTh
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The Marine Living Planet IndexThe m
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Case study: River dolphinsExample p
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Biogeographic realmsBiodiversity tr
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the EcologicalFootprintThe Ecologic
Page 23 and 24: What does “ecological overshoot
Page 25 and 26: 2008Gha per capita< 11 - 22 - 33 -
Page 27 and 28: population,URBANIZATION andDEVELOPM
Page 29 and 30: People with different incomeshave d
Page 31 and 32: Ecological Footprint and sustainabl
Page 33 and 34: the Water FootprintThe average glob
Page 35 and 36: Chapter 2: Why weshould care~A sate
Page 37 and 38: Margaret’s storyFor many people l
Page 39 and 40: Overlaying carbon and biodiversityT
Page 41 and 42: Energy to BurnMargaret occupies an
Page 43 and 44: Oceans: SOURCE OF FOOD,ENERGY AND M
Page 45 and 46: Scramble for land:Competing claims
Page 47 and 48: The emerging impactsof rising green
Page 49 and 50: A matter of degrees: Future impacts
Page 51 and 52: Projecting the EcologicalFootprint
Page 53 and 54: Chapter 4:Better choicesfor a livin
Page 55 and 56: SHARE AND SHARE ALIKEA visitor to M
Page 57 and 58: Produce betterEfficient production
Page 59 and 60: ENOUGH FOR ALLNot much goes to wast
Page 61 and 62: Equitable resourcegovernanceEquitab
Page 63 and 64: Closing words:actions from inspirAT
Page 65 and 66: Annex 1:The Living Planet IndexWhat
Page 67 and 68: likely that climate change will be
Page 69 and 70: What is included in the Ecological
Page 71 and 72: Table 2: Ecological Footprint data
Page 73: Annex 3: Glossary of terms andabbre
Page 77 and 78: Davidson, E.A., de Araujo, A.C., Ar
Page 79 and 80: Thurstan, R.H., Brockington, S. and
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Biodiversity, biocapacity and better choices

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